Pada 28.10.2008 lalu saya terbaca satu artikel dalam Borneo Post. Menarik. 5% royalty minyak untuk sarawak. Ada cerita disebaliknya, Tun kata di minta royalti minyak sarawak sebanyak 15%. Saya sempat scan artikel tersebut untuk tatapan rakan-rakan diluar negara yang membaca blog ini.
KUCHING: Former Head State Tun Datuk Patinggi Abdul Rahman Yakub refuted claims by forme Deputy Chief MinisterDatu Amar James Wong that h (Rahman) was the one settled for the 5% five per cent oil royalty for Sarawak.
In fact, Rahman said h was not even present at the meeting in Kuala Lumpur which discussed the of royalty issue with the thet finance minister Tun Tan Siew Sin.
"As I could not make it tc the discussion at that time, asked (Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Yong, the then deputy chief minister, to represent me at the meeting," he told The Borneo Post and its sister taper, Utusan Borneo, at his residence at Petra Jaya here on Thursday evening
Rahman, Sarawak's ; third chief minister, said that it was Yong who committed Sarawak to the deal .of five per cent.
"What he ought to have done was not to commit then and tip ere but tell them that he had to consult me first.That way, I could take it to the state cabinet fordeliberation," he said.
However, he said, since Yong had ;greed to accept the deal, he was left with the choice to either dismiss Yong for having done so or retain him in the state cabinet and accept the five per cent.
He decided to go for the latter as dismissing Yong would only rock Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), as Yong was the secretary-general, which could cause the party's detachment from Barisan Nasional (BN).
Rahman was countering Wong's claims that he (Rahman) was the one who settled for five per cent, the amount of royalty that Sarawak is still receiving until now.
"When I was in the government, I wanted 15 per cent but Yakub (referring to the former governor who was the then chief minister) gave us away for five per cent," Wong had told reporters after participating in a history forum on the `Formation of Malaysia from Sarawak's perspective' at the State Library ,gym. recently. Wong felt that 15 to 20 per cent of oil royalty should just be about right for Sarawak.
This revelation surprised Rahman 'who said that to the best of his recollection, Wong "He was not even in my cabinet at that time. He was with the Sarawak National Party (SNAP). In fact, nobody from SNAP itself mentioned the issue to me.
Whatever it might be, Rahman said that personally, he did not see the relevance of quarrelling about getting five or 15 per cent but rather to tell the story on how the oil royalty landed at five per cent.
He then related what took place with regards to the oil deal prior to the meeting in Kuala Lumpur when he was chief minister.
According to him, some time in 1974, a newspaper in Peninsular Malaysia reported that the federal government was claiming that the offshore oil in Sarawak belonged to it.
A bill was even tabled in the Dewan Rakyat., On hearing this, Rahman immediately instructed the then state attorney-general to write a letter to the federal attorney-general at that time requesting that the federal government withdraw that bill.
"Our point was that the oil belonged to Sarawak and not to the federal government and if the federal side refused to withdraw the bill, I told them that I would take action in court," he said.
This call came to the attention of the then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak who requested that Rahman come over to discuss with him.
"He asked me for an explanation on talks of taking thefederal government to court and I explained to him that I was never consulted on this Petroleum Bill issue and all of a sudden, the federal attorney-general came up with this bill. I said the oil found offshore Sarawak did not belong to the federal government but to Sarawak."
Rahman said he supported his claims by showing Razak the advice of three foreign legal experts in public international law.
In 1953, when Sarawak was still a British colony, Her Majesty the Queen of England had declared that the territorial waters of Sarawak extended beyond the normal three-mile limit but include the offshore.
So by virtue of this declaration, the petroleum found offshore Sarawak belonged to the state, Rahman argued.
In return, Razak revealed a six-page opinion of legal advice the federal government received from......
In fact, Rahman said h was not even present at the meeting in Kuala Lumpur which discussed the of royalty issue with the thet finance minister Tun Tan Siew Sin.
"As I could not make it tc the discussion at that time, asked (Tan Sri Datuk Amar Stephen Yong, the then deputy chief minister, to represent me at the meeting," he told The Borneo Post and its sister taper, Utusan Borneo, at his residence at Petra Jaya here on Thursday evening
Rahman, Sarawak's ; third chief minister, said that it was Yong who committed Sarawak to the deal .of five per cent.
"What he ought to have done was not to commit then and tip ere but tell them that he had to consult me first.That way, I could take it to the state cabinet fordeliberation," he said.
However, he said, since Yong had ;greed to accept the deal, he was left with the choice to either dismiss Yong for having done so or retain him in the state cabinet and accept the five per cent.
He decided to go for the latter as dismissing Yong would only rock Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), as Yong was the secretary-general, which could cause the party's detachment from Barisan Nasional (BN).
Rahman was countering Wong's claims that he (Rahman) was the one who settled for five per cent, the amount of royalty that Sarawak is still receiving until now.
"When I was in the government, I wanted 15 per cent but Yakub (referring to the former governor who was the then chief minister) gave us away for five per cent," Wong had told reporters after participating in a history forum on the `Formation of Malaysia from Sarawak's perspective' at the State Library ,gym. recently. Wong felt that 15 to 20 per cent of oil royalty should just be about right for Sarawak.
This revelation surprised Rahman 'who said that to the best of his recollection, Wong "He was not even in my cabinet at that time. He was with the Sarawak National Party (SNAP). In fact, nobody from SNAP itself mentioned the issue to me.
Whatever it might be, Rahman said that personally, he did not see the relevance of quarrelling about getting five or 15 per cent but rather to tell the story on how the oil royalty landed at five per cent.
He then related what took place with regards to the oil deal prior to the meeting in Kuala Lumpur when he was chief minister.
According to him, some time in 1974, a newspaper in Peninsular Malaysia reported that the federal government was claiming that the offshore oil in Sarawak belonged to it.
A bill was even tabled in the Dewan Rakyat., On hearing this, Rahman immediately instructed the then state attorney-general to write a letter to the federal attorney-general at that time requesting that the federal government withdraw that bill.
"Our point was that the oil belonged to Sarawak and not to the federal government and if the federal side refused to withdraw the bill, I told them that I would take action in court," he said.
This call came to the attention of the then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak who requested that Rahman come over to discuss with him.
"He asked me for an explanation on talks of taking thefederal government to court and I explained to him that I was never consulted on this Petroleum Bill issue and all of a sudden, the federal attorney-general came up with this bill. I said the oil found offshore Sarawak did not belong to the federal government but to Sarawak."
Rahman said he supported his claims by showing Razak the advice of three foreign legal experts in public international law.
In 1953, when Sarawak was still a British colony, Her Majesty the Queen of England had declared that the territorial waters of Sarawak extended beyond the normal three-mile limit but include the offshore.
So by virtue of this declaration, the petroleum found offshore Sarawak belonged to the state, Rahman argued.
In return, Razak revealed a six-page opinion of legal advice the federal government received from......
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